


late night talks

by floristyunho



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Crushes, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Insomnia, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, hes rly messy, i cri, i wrote this 4 months ago, kevin sleeps once a century or something, or neighbors to lovers, possibly no angst at all, rated T but i dont know why yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floristyunho/pseuds/floristyunho
Summary: Kevin wasn't quite the neighbor from hell yet he was still insufferable at times. Maybe Jacob was doing way too good in putting up with it. So good that at some point he couldn't imagine his life without a nuisance like him.
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

Jacob never even expected he would ever need to experience having a guy such as Kevin Moon as his neighbor. Not that he wasn’t nice. It was the complete opposite. He was, in fact, the friendliest and kindest person Jacob had ever met. Or maybe he thought that way because he never got to know him better than he currently did. But his good qualities ended approximately there. The boy was a complete mess.

Being friends with him was nice, it was difficult for one to not like him. But being neighbors with him was a completely different story. He was loud and apparently never slept. At times, when Jacob was having difficulties falling asleep and was just sitting in bed and watching videos on YouTube, he would hear Kevin stumbling on his balcony while watering his plants. He was way too clumsy for his own good. The walls between their apartments were thin enough, Jacob always knew when Kevin dropped and/or broke something, wincing at the sound of the loud thuds every time as if he never got used to them. They were always followed by Kevin muttering curses about how he's so annoyed that everything manages to get in his way and about how it was about time to buy more durable things that would survive for longer in his presence. It was rare, but there were also times when objects, more specifically a controller, got thrown to a random wall of choice just because Kevin was frustrated with the video games he was playing. Apparently, the controllers were durable.

Jacob had to start making a list of the things he had actually gotten used to – such as Kevin just randomly singing all the time or knocking on Jacob’s wall when he needed something, not caring what time of the day it was. In fact, the only reason he could get used to with Kevin’s singing was that he could actually sing, for his surprise. He had a very beautiful voice and it was quite enjoyable to listen to when Jacob wasn’t trying to sleep or do some very important work. He wondered if he would still be the only one who was being bothered by Kevin if he had another neighbor on the other side, but from what he had gathered, Jacob knew that Kevin would sometimes bother the couple from the upper floor when he needed something very urgently and Jacob wasn't responding.

For some reason, aside of everything else, Kevin held some of his plants at the frame that was dividing his and Jacob’s balcony. It often resulted in Jacob going out and witnessing a broken pot on the ground. The flower pot casualty count so far was around five or six. Luckily, Kevin learned his lesson and started keeping only small succulents with equally small pots to keep them in so they had enough space on the frame to not get knocked down by the forces of gravity. Jacob was very fond of these succulents for some reason. Maybe it was because they looked so cute since they were so small but it became a habit for him to water them from time to time, too, in cases when Kevin forgot. And he really did forget quite often. Somehow none of his flowers died, though. Even those that were out of Jacob's reach.

The two-room apartment Jacob lived in was very cozy and it was the most he could afford, so he didn’t want to consider planning on moving out just because his neighbor was a nuisance at times. There were moments when he was considering if he should switch his bedroom and the living room, but moving furniture was too much of a burden for him. So he stayed like that and endured everything coming from the other side of the thin wall.

Or at least almost everything. Sometimes Jacob heard very questionable noises but that was an issue he took care of quickly by putting his headphones on and not interrupting the other with whatever he was doing. He was never interested enough to question his habits and what he decides to do with his free time. He couldn’t really complain from Kevin because he knew that there was noise coming from his own side too. Except that it wasn’t at such great amounts and volumes. And it definitely wasn’t in the middle of the night.

One morning, when it was probably too early for Kevin to do anything besides sleep, or at least Jacob hope he ever engaged in activities such as sleeping, the blond boy was sitting on the chair at his balcony and drinking his morning coffee and eating bland cereal while looking up at the sky. It was rather cold outside yet Jacob still didn’t put anything else besides a loose T-shirt to go along with the shorts he slept in. In other cases, he wouldn’t go out on the balcony like that but he thought no one would see him wearing shorts patterned with cartoon  mochis all over them.

Maybe he should have considered that everything could happen and being so comfortable on his own balcony wasn’t always an option. He realized that only when he saw Kevin go out on his balcony with the corner of his eye. He turned to him and looked at him in slight shock, only to be greeted with a warm, lazy smile.

As previously mentioned, Kevin was an extremely nice person. And he was nice enough to not even mention anything about the way Jacob looked. He himself looked quite  disheveled \- still wearing the same T-shirt and sweatpants that he had obviously slept in and that he had worn for the last two days, his hair messy and poking out in all directions possible. But it was cute, Jacob thought. It was a nice change to see him sleepy instead of full of energy. Maybe that would make him more quiet.

“Good morning,” Kevin said with a sleepy voice. He also sat in his own chair, a cup of tea in hands. He was mostly warming his hands on it rather than drinking it.

“Good morning,” Jacob greeted in response, his face quickly softening up. He took a sip of his coffee and watched the other bring his legs up on the plastic chair and lightly snuggle against it, placing his cup on top of his knees. “Why are you up so early?” He questioned, noticing the dark circles and the bags forming under Kevin’s eyes. They suddenly seemed a little bolder than usual.

The younger tilted his head and shrugged. “I haven’t slept at all because I was playing games.”

Jacob found it a little weird because there were no noises, no throwing of controllers, no screaming at the game that woke him up. He had either slept too deeply or Kevin was considerate for once and didn’t want to wake his neighbor. The first option was more likely.

“Why are you awake though?” Kevin asked, tilting his head back a little.

“I have a job interview. I need some extra money to be able to pay rent and still manage to live normally,” Jacob explained and received an understanding nod from the other. “So I hope I get hired.”

“I thought you have a job already.”

“I do. But it pays enough only for me to pay the bills and get food. I’m not really able to afford much besides that and I prefer keeping my savings.”

Kevin nodded once again and took a sip of his tea. His hands had warmed up enough by then and they were approximately the same temperature as the tea that wasn’t all that hot anymore. Jacob finished up with his coffee and his cereal and got up.

“See you later. Make sure to get some sleep,” he advised and waved at Kevin before going inside.

He heard something along the lines of “I promise nothing” and giggled quietly as he made his way to his wardrobe. He picked a little more presentable clothes than the ones he usually wore because he wanted to make a good impression. He even took out of his time to iron them so he was sure they weren’t wrinkled anywhere. He sure was preparing a lot for someone who was only going to do work with his computer from home instead of actually working at two separate places and going from one place to another, according to his shifts.

After he went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth, he put his shoes on and looked at himself in the big mirror in the hallway to make sure that he looked good. With quiet hums he was turning from side to side. When he finally figured out what was wrong, he bent down to roll up the legs of his pants a little, a satisfied smile appearing on his face afterwards. He wasn't trying too hard for the interview, he eventually realized, he was just being beyond pretentious about how he looked and the vibes he gave off. And maybe that was alright if he wasn't going to be late.

With a lot of effort, he finally stepped away from the mirror and finished up with getting ready before going out.


	2. Chapter 2

Aside of his worries about looking as good as possible, it turned out to be a great day for Jacob. He did well at his job interview, without stuttering or messing his words up _too_ much, and he didn't want to jump to conclusions but he was almost certain that he was going to get hired.

After the interview, he went to grab coffee with a co-worker of his and they went to work together. He worked part time at a store that had supplies for other stores. He worked there for quite a long time already yet he still wasn't sure if there was a more specific name for that kind of stores. Even if it didn’t pay enough for him to be able to treat himself from time to time, he loved working there. Especially because his co-workers were nice and his boss was really chill. But as nice as they all were, he was the most talkative and friendliest of all, always ready to help customers right away which the others who were more anxious were very thankful for because he was like their savior at moments when they didn't want to deal with customers that were a little more rude or intimidating.

When the shift was over, he was the one to take care of closing the shop since it was his turn, according to the table that was hanging in the storage room. He cleaned up and put everything into place, double checking to make sure that everything was alright before calling a taxi as he was turning on the security alarm system and closing the door, a content smile plastered on his face for apparently no reason other than him having a good day. Of course, he felt tired already. It seemed like such a long day but he was happy.

While he was preparing dinner at home, he noticed something odd. That evening he hadn’t heard a single sound coming from Kevin’s apartment which was unusual and a contrast to almost every other evening he had spent at home. Maybe the boy had listened to his advice and was catching up on all the sleep he had been missing on in his entire life probably. He left the food on the stove and reached out to open the cupboard above his head. He took out a bigger glass and filled it with water, heading to the balcony to water the succulents. For his big surprise, Kevin was there, watering the rest of his plants. _Quietly._

“Hey,” Jacob greeted and smiled at his neighbor. He moved closer to the frame to look at the little pots only to see that they weren’t watered yet. True, they were succulents, but there were times when they looked really depressed and dried out. “Are you never watering these?” He asked as he was removing some of the dried out parts before watering them, trying to pour water equally into each pot.

Kevin shook his head and left the bottle that he used for watering plants after he was done with it. “I’ve noticed you’re ' _secretly_ ' taking care of them from time to time, so I stopped because I didn’t want to kill them from accidentally watering them too much.”

"Yeah, so you've decided to kill them from not watering them at all." Jacob nodded as he quietly giggled under his breath and leaned against the frame, looking at Kevin. It was so easy to have small talk with him. With other people it usually got boring or even annoying and repetitive, sometimes even awkward, but Kevin was obviously good at small talk. Jacob wasn’t sure if he was but so far, he was able to carry out all conversations with the younger quite well.  “ Wanna come over?" He suddenly asked. "I’m making dinner right now.”

“I haven’t eaten yet, so yeah,” Kevin agreed without thinking much, smiling widely. His tired eyes suddenly sparked with excitement.

“Okay.” Jacob nodded and backed away a little. He was heading to the door of the balcony but still looking at Kevin. “I don’t have time to tidy up, so don’t have any expectations.”

They both went inside their apartments. Jacob headed to the kitchen to leave the empty glass on the counter. He looked around the place, hoping that judging by the kind of a person he was, Kevin’s apartment would be much messier and he wouldn’t get impressed by the state Jacob lived in, caused by his obvious laziness. It wasn't _too_ bad if he squinted. It was even kind of... What was the word? Cozy.

In less than a minute, the bell rang and Jacob went to open the door for Kevin to come in.

Not really sure of what to do, Kevin just smiled awkwardly at Jacob before making his way in. He didn’t see a reason to put anything to go to an apartment that was two steps away, so the only thing he wore on his feet were fuzzy socks with pink, white, and purple stripes. They kind of matched with the interior of the kitchen.

The blond closed the door and made a small gesture towards the living room. It was awkward, he had never invited anyone to his home until then, he had completely no idea what he was supposed to say or do. But apparently his gesture was enough. They both walked into the living room. Kevin made himself comfortable on the sofa while Jacob went to the stove to check up on the food.

“What are you cooking?” Kevin asked as he took one of the pillows put at one end of the couch and hugged it. “It smells nice.”

“Chicken curry and rice,” Jacob responded and turned his head, looking at Kevin over his shoulder. “It should be ready in a few minutes. Sorry I don’t have a proper dining table.”

“It’s okay, I don’t have one either if that would make you feel calmer. I usually just eat in my bed or at my desk in days when I've decided to clean up a bit.” The younger shrugged and started looking around, softly tapping his foot against the ground. “I lied; I eat only in bed because I’m too lazy clean up. But sometimes I like to imagine that my desk isn't cluttered.”

Jacob giggled as he took the pot off the hob. “It’s okay, sometimes I’m lazy too.” He pulled out two plates from one of the cupboards, putting the food in them afterwards. He walked over to the couch and gave one of the plates to Kevin. He sat down next to him and turned the TV on, searching for something to put mostly as a background noise to help ease the atmosphere.

The first thing the brown haired boy did was to taste the food. He glanced up at the TV as he was chewing, frowning a little. “Didn’t you say it’s curry?” He questioned, tilting his head to look at Jacob who looked worried all of a sudden because he thought Kevin didn’t like the food he made.

“Yes, it is. What’s wrong with it?”

“Isn’t curry supposed to be spicy though?”

“Oh.” The expression on Jacob's face turned apologetic. “I can’t handle spicy food, so I don't make the curry spicy. I'm sorry about that.”

Seriously, all he wanted to do was spend some time to get to know his neighbor and be nice to invite him over for dinner because his day was going well enough for him to be in the mood to do that . Literally the last thing he expected to happen was the other not liking  the food which basically would ruin the whole thing. Or at least he felt like that. Otherwise, it wasn't _that_ deep and he sort of realized it, sort of didn't.

“Don’t apologize.” Kevin gave Jacob an understanding of and assuring smile. “It’s really good even if it’s not spicy.”

“You like it?” The  older's face lit up. He suddenly felt relieved.

“Yes, of course. ”

Jacob nodded with a wide smile and left Kevin to enjoy his food in peace as he did the same, both fixing their attention on the TV and whatever was on. Apparently, Jacob had stopped switching through channels at Animal Planet and they were watching a show about pandas and their babies. At some point, Kevin felt his eyes tear up slightly because he found it so endearing but all he did was push the tears back in and let out a quiet sniffle as he continued with his food.

“Let’s change the channel, I won’t be able to handle it for much longer,” Kevin suddenly said, not taking his eyes off of the TV.

“Oh, thank God, I thought I was the only one getting emotional because of how cute it is,” Jacob sighed and used his leg to drag the coffee table closer, so he could leave his almost empty plate there and take the remote. He started switching through channels again but aside of pandas there wasn’t really anything else to watch. “ Wanna play games instead?”

“Great idea.”

While Jacob was taking out all his games for Kevin to choose one, the latter went to the kitchen to leave his plate in the sink. He stopped beside Jacob on his way back to the couch and gasped in surprise. “You have so many games! No wonder you need a second job to get money if you spend them all on all these games.” He sat down on the floor next to the older and started going through the games. He started selecting them in three piles – games he liked, games he disliked and games he hadn’t played yet. He let out a prolonged whine. “They really are way too many... How am I supposed to choose?”

“You know, you can always come here some other time and you would have plenty of time to play all of the games you want, they won’t run away,” Jacob chuckled as he set the rest on the floor. “I mean, not always, obviously. But you know what I mean. Don't break into my house, please.”

Kevin pretended to be hurt and put a hand over his chest, clutching at the fabric of his shirt and inhaling sharply. “I can’t believe you just told me I’m not welcome in your own apartment at any time of the day, whenever I want to visit you, I think this friendship won’t work out.”

“You’re being too dramatic.” Jacob let out a quiet giggle as he took the small pile of games that Kevin liked, going through it.

They chose a game together. Jacob finished up with his dinner while he was setting up the controllers and starting the game. Apparently, the fact that it was from the games that Kevin liked, didn’t necessarily mean that he was actually good at it. He was actually the complete opposite of good and Jacob was kind enough to go through the trouble to help him and learn how to play which wasn’t very effective but at least they were having fun and that was the most important thing. They were both aware of it, but Jacob didn't have the heart to tell Kevin how much he sucked.

They ended up playing for hours until Kevin felt sleepy. He thought that he could fight it off and not fall asleep just because he was used to not sleeping, he was supposed to be able to do it. But overestimating himself ended up in him falling asleep without realizing while waiting for a new game to load.


	3. Chapter 3

Jacob wasn’t late to notice that Kevin had dozed off. Well, he had no other choice but to notice when the younger didn't give any reaction to the game finally loading fully.

He found it amazing that he actually got to witness the sight of Kevin Moon sleeping probably for the first time in his entire life. No, he didn't think he was exaggerating. He shook his head lightly with a small smile spread across his face and turned the TV off along with the gaming console. He carefully took the controller out of Kevin’s loose hold and put it away before he got up. He went to his closet to take a warm blanket and came to the living room, covering the brown-haired boy with it. After that, he put his plate in the sink, postponing washing the dishes for the morning to not wake Kevin up with the noise. He went to his room and changed into his sleeping clothes, not able to afford the luxury of sleeping in his boxers only since he had a guest over. 

As good as it was, the day felt much longer than it probably should have and Jacob felt happy that it finally came to an end and that he could finally sleep. 

Kevin got startled in his sleep which resulted in him waking up in the middle of the night. He wasn’t sure if he actually had a nightmare or some external noise caused him to wake up but once he was awake, there was no falling back asleep. He yawned and stretched, opening his eyes and immediately squinting as he tried to get used to the dark, only a soft glow from the moon outside shining through the thin curtains into the room. The boy put a hand over his mouth and gasped muffledly as he realized that he wasn’t at his own apartment, feeling embarrassed that he had fallen asleep at Jacob’s. He felt like he had to apologize for making his, oh so friendly, neighbor go through the trouble of him falling asleep in the middle of them playing games and even covering him with a blanket because he was that considerate. 

He took his phone from the coffee table to check what the time was, internally cursing at himself that he had last put it at full brightness. Bad both for his eyes and for his battery life apparently. He let out a quiet sigh and got up, heading to the small kitchen to fill himself a glass of water. As he was looking through the cabinets to figure out where Jacob kept the clean glasses, he noticed that the dishes weren’t washed. After a short search, he finally found where the glasses were and took one, filling it with water from the tap. When he drank all of it, he quickly washed the glass along with the plates because it was the least he could do to thank Jacob and to help him out. 

Being honest with himself, for quite a long time Kevin had hoped that he could be good friends with Jacob or at least be closer with him. He didn't have a lot of real life friends since he worked at home and didn't really need to go out a lot and to meet new people. He wasn’t sure if the older boy wanted to be friends with him too, so he never really approached him. Living alone and not really communicating with anyone besides your internet friends was alright most of the time. Yet there were other times when he felt really lonely and no matter what he did to distract himself from it, he knew that staying up late and playing video games without trying to make new friends who he could actually hang out with wasn’t going to help him one bit. But he also didn’t feel ready to be potentially 'disappointed', so he somehow rolled with it and waited for a miracle to happen and for the perfect person to appear and offer to be friends with him out of nowhere. And now, he could do nothing but hope that Jacob was showing actual, genuine interest in spending time with him.

He went back to the couch and lied down, placing a cushion underneath his head and covering himself with the blanket. He realized that he was a little cold because the window was open but now it was too late. He had already made himself comfortable and didn’t want to get up. 

Kevin spent the time until Jacob woke up on his phone. When he heard the other boy going out of his room, he quickly got up and moved to sit at the end of the couch, although not taking his eyes off of his phone. Jacob was too sleepy and therefore he had almost forgotten Kevin was in his apartment. He went to the bathroom to do his morning routine and he realized the other boy was there only when he walked into the living room and saw him, going through a few seconds of sleepy surprise and even confusion. 

The younger looked up from his phone. “Good morning,” he greeted, not exactly noticing and paying much attention to the other's initial confusion. “Did you sleep well?” 

“I feel like I hadn’t slept that good in months,” Jacob said as he stretched his arms up and went over to the fridge. “How about you?” He took out a carton of milk and placed it on the counter, taking out a small pot to heat it up in. 

Kevin shrugged. “I’ve been awake for about seven or eight hours now, so I guess it wasn’t all that good. I’m sorry for falling asleep here, I didn’t mean to be a bother.” 

Jacob looked at Kevin with his eyebrows curled upwards and a small pout, leaving the milk down on the counter before even getting the chance to pour any of it into the pot. “Don’t talk like that, you’re not a bother. You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m actually even surprised that you got any sleep at all.” He sighed and shook his head lightly, looking ahead once again. “Do you want cereal?” 

“Yeah,” Kevin responded as he left his phone on the coffee table, still feeling guilty even though Jacob said it’s alright. He didn’t feel like it was. But nothing that much had happened, right? He just fell asleep in another dude's apartment. It wasn't supposed to be something he should feel bad about. “Do you need help with anything?” 

“Mmm, I don’t think so.” After pouring enough milk for the two of them, Jacob put the pot on the smallest hob on his oven. While he was waiting for it to warm up, he made coffee for himself and tea for Kevin because he had noticed he prefers it over coffee. Which was weird for someone who barely slept. Jacob had always thought that sleep deprivation like his must have been fueled by lots and lots of caffeine. The only reason he knew that Kevin drank tea was because of the many mornings they would accidentally end up spending together on their balconies, never failing to catch the faint smell of forest fruit. 

Unfortunately, the only kind of tea Jacob had tasted like a lemon with a severe case of depression. He didn’t really know how to feel about that. And neither did Kevin when he caught the faint smell of the tea. Of course, he felt good that Jacob cared enough to notice that he always drank tea and couldn't complain because, after all, he was a guest.

Soon, Jacob walked over to the couch with two bowls of cereal, leaving them on the table and going back to take the drinks. When he came back again, he placed the cup of tea in front of Kevin and smiled warmly at him. “There you go,” he said with his usual soft, friendly voice. "I'm sorry I don't have anything better to offer than this, I hope I don't need to admit that I've bought the cheapest tea and cereal even though that's exactly what I did." He then walked to the other side of the table and sat down at the other end of the couch, taking his bowl. 

“Thank you so much,” Kevin looked at Jacob.

“No need to.” 

While they were eating, Jacob turned the TV on, humming quietly. “Mind if we watch cartoons?” He asked, already searching for the cartoon channels either way. 

“Of course not,” Kevin responded almost right after. He had eaten his cereal in no time just because he didn’t want his tea to cool off way too soon. He reached out and left the bowl on the table, replacing it with the cup of tea that he only held to warm his hands up. Jacob had also noticed that he always did that. It was kind of cute in a way. Although not being able to keep your hands warm despite all the efforts wasn't very cute. 

They spent the rest of the morning watching cartoons together until Kevin decided it was time to go back to his apartment so Jacob could get ready for work. And so he could do some work too, of course.


	4. Chapter 4

Unlike the previous day, Jacob had a horrible day at work as if he had used up all of his monthly good luck in just one day. He constantly having to argue with customers while  trying to be as nice as possible just because he didn’t want to actually cause any problems neither for the customers nor for himself. He felt drained. The last thing he wanted was to get himself in trouble. Maybe he was being overdramatic but in days like this he was seriously wondering if that job was really worth it. Especially when he was always the chosen one to talk to customers.

Not to mention, the weather also affected his mood quite a lot. Well, maybe not in general but certainly on that specific day. It was cloudy and kind of gloomy outside, a little too humid and suffocating as if it was going to rain any moment but it never actually did.

When there w ere less people around wh o were just peacefully looking around for whatever they needed,  Jacob could finally  take his time to  rest a little, leaning against the counter and humming quietly to whatever song was playing on the radio. He stopped  not long after  as he was distracted by the door opening, his attention fixing on the  person who walked in. A wide smile suddenly appeared on his face and it was like his day was never even close to bad.

“Kevin!” Jacob exclaimed happily, his mood improving just because he saw someone he knows.

Kevin was a little surprised as he looked back at him, but he quickly smiled in return, walking up to the counter. “What are you doing here?” He asked curiously, not in an interrogative way. He apparently wasn’t too quick to connect the dots.

“Guess.” Jacob’s smile grew wider as he saw the utter confusion in Kevin’s eyes. He giggled and made a small hand motion to gesture at the whole counter before actually answering his question. “I work here. I think I’ve mentioned it before.”

Kevin was way too forgetful to know that if that was true or not, he personally couldn’t recall, so he just decided to settle with  shrugging and  believing Jacob on that.

“So, what’s bringing you here?” Jacob asked, ready to help with whatever he could as if he wasn’t exhausted . After all, him and Kevin might be neighbors and even friends but he was still at work and aside of everything else, right now Kevin was also a customer for Jacob.  On top of everything else , i f he was visiting the store for the first time it meant that  helping him  would give them  a chance to hang out for a little while.

Jacob was happy about it but it was t otally not because he didn’t really want to do any proper work  f o r the day anymore. It was all about helping out a friend in need.

The younger hummed as he thought for a while. “I ’m not really looking for anything specific. I just found this store on the internet, so I came here to check it out and see if I could find something I’d need .”

“I can show you around,” Jacob offered, already walking  out  from behind the counter to Kevin.

Quite unfortunately for him, Kevin actually knew exactly what he was searching for and his needs were a little bit too specific for his liking , he just didn’t want to seem weird or pretentious, so he was just going to act surprised when he magically found exactly what he was looking for .

Apparently and even more unfortunately , Kevin turned out to be one of the many problematic customers Jacob had that day  because  after around ten or fifteen minutes of walking around, he didn’t see any of the things he was looking for. So, he asked Jacob if they actually had them. And thanks to him, the older boy  had to call a few of the suppliers for the store to ask them if they had anything of what Kevin needed in their storage.

He hung up from his last call when everything was settled and put his phone back in his pocket before looking at the younger. “Everything will be here by Monday. I could  bring the stuff and drop them off by your apartment when I’m coming back from work, so you won’t need to waste your energy on coming here just to take them.” He was smiling warmly again while walking towards the counter with Kevin by his side. “Speaking of which,” he glanced at the slightly taller boy, “my shift is almost over, we could go back home together if you don't have any other work.”

“I don’t,” Kevin responded , grinning widely at the unexpected suggestion that surprised him a little .  In a good way, of course.  “ I’d gladly walk home with you.”

Jacob pulled a  second  wooden stool behind the counter for Kevin to sit on while waiting for him to finish with his work. After that, he also sat down and sighed quietly, tilting his head back and closing his eyes for a moment.

“Are you here alone?” Kevin asked awkwardly while he was looking around.

“Technically, no.” Jacob sighed once again and reopened his eyes to look at Kevin. “But my co-worker had something important to do, so she left me here to deal with everything all alone for the rest of the day. She said she’s supposed to come back at some point but I doubt it.”

Only half an hour passed when Jacob’s shift was finally over. He quickly cleaned up; declining Kevin’s offers to help a few times until there was nothing for him to help with. When he was done with that, he changed from his work clothes to his normal ones and walked up to the counter again.

“We’re ready to go,” he said cheerfully as he was putting his jacket on.

As soon as he heard that, Kevin got up from the stool and walked to the front door of the store and opened it, leaning against it slightly as he was waiting for the other to turn off the lights and go outside.

“You seem happy,” Kevin pointed out when he noticed Jacob humming quietly with a smile on his face as he was locking the door.

“Oh, I really am! I really could barely wait to get off work the entire day, it was unusually exhausting.”

“At least you’d be able to take a rest during the weekend.” Kevin shrugged with a light hopeful smile as he put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and started walking.

Jacob tagged along when he made sure everything was locked and turned off in the store, not daring to respond with anything to what had Kevin just said because most times the main reason he wasn’t able to take a rest even during the weekends was Kevin’s existence. He couldn’t be rude and say that out loud. And so straight forwardly on top of everything else.

They were walking in silence most of the time. Jacob was too exhausted to think of anything to talk about and Kevin was too awkward and wasn’t sure how to start a conversation that would last long enough.  So they were just walking peacefully until Kevin heard a strange noise and stopped on his tracks, making the older to the same almost right after.

“What’s wrong?” Jacob turned to look at Kevin questioningly.

“I think I heard meowing,” Kevin answered before he heard it again and walked off to the direction it was coming from. “I think it’s coming from under this car,” he said as he pointed at the car in question. “What if it’s stuck and can’t get out?” He furrowed his brows and walked closer to the car, almost lying down on the sidewalk just so he could look underneath.

Jacob had crouched down next to him, also looking underneath the car, both of them smiling widely as they found the small kitten with big shiny eyes that was hiding there and meowing.

“Well, at least it’s not stuck,” Jacob said. “But it seems scared.”

“Poor little thing.” The younger slowly reached his hand out towards the kitten, not getting too near to not scare it even more. “ C’mere lil guy,” he started speaking with a gentle voice in an attempt to make the kitten approach him. It didn’t come closer to his hand but at least it allowed Kevin to pick it up gently, getting up afterwards and holding it in his hands while it was still meowing. “Well, it happened faster and much easier than I expected. Poor thing doesn’t have instincts and doesn’t know it should run away from me.”

The other boy also got up, gently and soothingly scratching behind the kitten’s ear. “What are we going to do with it? We can’t just leave it here when it’s getting colder.”

Kevin hummed quietly while thinking but there really wasn’t much to think about. He had already decided on what to do. “We’re going to take it. I’m going to stop by the supermarket on our way back and then I will visit the vet tomorrow and  tadaa . I will have one more thing to knock over my plants except myself.” His smile grew even wider as he looked at Jacob.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I mean, of course. As you said, we can’t leave it in the cold.”

And just like that, without needing to discuss it further, the two boys took the cat to Kevin’s apartment, buying the most essential things beforehand. They were sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room, surrounded by pillows that the two boys had taken from their rooms and closets.

“I think I should head back soon,” Jacob sighed quietly as he leaned closer to the kitten, holding it gently and scratching its tummy. “If I stay here any longer, I’m surely going to fall asleep.”

“Well, I could return the favor from yesterday and let you sleep here. But if you’re actually going to stay, I’d have to leave you all alone here and go in my room to get some work done.” Kevin smiled awkwardly but Jacob was quick to assure him that there was nothing to worry about and that he wasn’t going to bother for much longer. He was just going to go back in his comfortable bed.

“You should figure out what to call it by the time we see each other again.” The blond got up slowly, leaving the cat in Kevin’s hands. “But don’t name it anything weird like Pencil, please.”

“I don’t promise anything. Goodnight, Jacob!”

“Goodnight,” Jacob said warmly shortly before going back to his own apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

"Good morning to the cutest baby on Earth!" Jacob said excitedly as he walked into Kevin's apartment, startling the latter who was lying on his back in the middle of the room, having a cushion rested under his head and doing something on his laptop. "Good morning to you too Kevin." Jacob happily walked up to the cat who was lying down on a pillow somewhere nearby Kevin. He supposed the younger was there only to keep an eye on her.

"Morning," Kevin responded lazily and tilted his head lightly to the side to look at Jacob who was already all over the cat and playing with her.

"How did it go at the vet?" Jacob asked, resting his elbows down on the floor against the soft carpet.

Kevin hummed quietly, leaving his laptop on the floor. He rolled over and moved closer to Jacob, now lying on his stomach. "Well, she was scared in the beginning, as expected. But then she decided she wants to play, jumped around for a while, knocked off a few things. Too many things. She even had time to pee on the floor there. But aside of that, everything is alright." He reached out to scratch the kitten behind the ear. "We should somehow teach her how to use the litter box, though."

"Do we have a name for her yet?"

"Not really. I woke up too early and my brain still isn't functioning properly enough to think about such things." Kevin let out an exhausted sigh and stretched both his arms out, resting his forehead against the carpet and closing his eyes. Once he realized that the carpet might be a bit too dirty for him to be burying his face against it, he slightly lifted himself up again and took his phone out of his pocket. "There are WikiHow articles on how to teach cats basic manners."

"Cats have manners?" Jacob raised his eyebrows up at him jokingly. He moved to sit as he took the cat in his lap, raising her paws up and playing with them. "Gonna be a tiny lady with manners."

The two boys spent the rest of the morning and all the time until late in the afternoon reading WikiHow articles and googling possible names. By the time the sun was setting already, Jacob and Kevin had hundreds of tabs open, most of which were with name suggestions and they hadn't even started going through them. They were just opening them for "later".

Both were getting more and more tired as time passed. The room was only getting darker because they were too lazy to get up and turn the lights on, comfortable only with the light from their phones and Kevin's laptop. Somehow the darkness was successfully lulling them to sleep and both of them had dozed off on the floor in almost no time, unknowingly leaving the tiny cat to cause mischief while they least expect it. 

It took a few hours, not too many - it was still evening, until Jacob woke up and immediately tilted his head up as he heard scratching noises. It was too dark, he couldn't see anything. "Kev?" He said sleepily, trying to figure out if the other was there. He didn't receive a response but he did hear light snoring along with the scratching sounds that just continued. 

He let out a quiet groan and lifted himself, successfully finding his way to the light switch without stumbling into too many things and without making too much noise. Not that anything was possibly going to wake Kevin up. He turned the lights on and squinted until he got used to them. He blinked a few times and then his eyes suddenly went wide as he saw all the mess the cat had made, everything he had knocked down on the floor and how right now she was climbing up on the curtains.

Jacob gasped and quickly took his phone, of course doing the most reasonable thing. He recorded the cat trying to climb up higher on the curtain as he reached out and gently took her. When he stopped recording, he snuggled the kitten close to his chest and watched the video a few times before deciding he should upload it. The answer, obviously, was yes.

He smiled softly to himself as he was doing so, moving to sit down on the ground next to Kevin who was still sleeping. After uploading the video, he left his phone aside and hummed, looking at the other boy. He wondered if he should wake him up but knowing how little sleep he always got, he most likely wouldn't dare. Who knew when would the next time he slept more than two hours be.

He looked around the room and didn't find any piece of paper to leave a note on, so he just decided to take Kevin's laptop. He found one of those online note sites and wrote with very big letters a message that read, " **I TOOK THE CAT SO SHE WOULDN'T RUIN YOUR APARTMENT (any more than she already did) AND I'VE DECIDED HER NAME IS PENCIL** ". That sounded good enough. He left the laptop right next to Kevin so he would see his message at some point. Then, he got up again and picked the kitty up, turning off the lights and going back to his own apartment.

"So what am I supposed to do with you now, princess?" Jacob asked the kitten as he sat down on his couch and gently placed her in his lap, petting her and scratching behind her ears. "Wanna go out for a walk to get you some food? Are you hungry?" He just kept playing with her and talking to her as if he was ever going to get any answer. When his arms were too tired of moving around so much he just set her down on the couch and let her play around by herself, deciding to watch some TV before going out.

While just sitting there and doing nothing useful for about an hour, Jacob was thinking of a way he could take the cat with himself. He ended up concluding that he could just wear his jacket that had pockets at the front and carry the cat inside. Maybe that cat was his key to finally find a girlfriend. Even though he didn’t know how could that possibly happen when he never had free time for anything like that. He only worked and used the rest of his precious time just to chill at home. Or to try to chill while Kevin was making a lot of noise.

As he came to think about it, ever since he started talking to Kevin more often, the other boy wasn’t all that noisy. That was a good thing, he guessed.

He got up from the couch and went to his room, opening the closet to take his jacket and putting it on. He then went back to the living room and took the cat, bringing her really close to his face and booping her nose gently with his own. “Time to go out,” he said happily before gently putting her inside his pocket, making sure that she wouldn’t get stuck inside or fall off. “You good down there?” He asked with a warm smile and patted his pocket lightly.

Keeping his hand on top of his pocket just in case, Jacob went to the nearest supermarket. He hoped that no one from the store’s staff would notice that he had a cat with him otherwise he would have a problem. Luckily, there weren't too many people around because it was already getting really latte and whoever saw the cat just smiled and moved on with taking whatever they needed. One thing that he was probably very glad about was that she wasn’t meowing loudly like she usually did. Or that was too early to say since he was still inside the store.

Once that thought was running around inside his head, he decided that he didn’t want to take any risks, so he bought whatever he needed as quickly as possible. In fact, he had a very good reason to worry. Only a few seconds after he went out of the store, the kitty started meowing so loudly and didn’t fail to bring everyone’s attention to herself. Jacob was trying to calm her down by petting her and rubbing her head but unfortunately that didn’t work and she stopped only when they got back home.

Jacob took her out of his pocket and set her down on the floor, letting her run around the house as he was looking at her with a small frown forming on his face. “You know, you don’t really look like a cat named Pencil but I still have no idea what else you could be named.”

He shrugged it off, once again concluding that Pencil is the only name she could possibly be named. Maybe Pennie for short. He went to the kitchen to leave the groceries on the counter and took out the food that he had taken for the kitty. On the package it said that it was suitable for baby cats, so he guessed it was okay to give it to her.

He didn’t even have a bowl to put the food in so he did the most logical thing possible. He went to Kevin’s apartment that just stayed unlocked. And while he was at it, he also took the cat’s litter box just because his neighbor was still soundly asleep on the floor and didn’t seem like he was going to wake up any time soon. Jacob put everything in his bedroom and left food for the cat in the bowl before stacking some books on top of each other to make stairs that lead to his bed so Pennie would comfortably go down on the floor whenever she wanted to during the night.

His only concern was accidentally squishing her while he was asleep but he was sure that wouldn’t happen.

He took her with himself up on the bed and got comfortable as he lied down on his back, letting her lie down on top of him. He was staring up at the ceiling for a while before closing his eyes. He wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep any time soon. He was so excited for having a cat that technically wasn’t even his.


End file.
